BOOK REVIEW: Back to Yesteday by Whitney Barbetti

Title: Back to Yesterday
Author: Whitney Barbetti
Series: Bleeding Hearts #2
Release Date: October 20, 2016

ADD TO GOODREADS

The distance from Colorado to Maine is not far enough to escape the memories.

The time I've been away is not long enough to heal the pain.

I left Colorado, determined to discover who I am outside of my grief, but I fell apart along the way.

I'm lost again.

When Jude follows me, I can't turn him away. But I can't let him in, either.

Not all the way.

I know when he finds out my secret, the one I keep hidden in the darkest part of my heart, he’ll leave me.

Alone.

Like I was before.

Whitney Barbetti is one of my literary goddesses and she continues to tell me why with Back to Yesterday. This woman doesn't just write, she invests. There's something so raw and real and personal in every book that she writes. Prepare your hearts for the raw emotions and the biting bits of heartbreaking twists this book will bring you. 

“If you can’t love yourself,” he said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, “let me love you enough for the both of us.”

Trista was beginning to believe the universe hated her. She was a lost soul once. But when she finally felt she found the other piece of her soul in the arms of Jude, untold lies ripped her apart again. Now she was more lost than she was before. Trista slowly built her own backbone in this book and it was a heartbreaking yet empowering process. In an ideal world, her character wouldn’t be easily liked. But if you’re a woman who’s felt the sting of insecurities, then brace your heart, this character will scrape your heart out. 

Jude was a forever kind of guy. He wasn’t the guy you hooked up with on your quest for the last guy. He was the last guy. And in many ways, he was the first guy for me.

Jude dedicated his life reaching the world’s highest points. He reveled on the power and freedom brought by breathing at the peak. But he was introduced to his life’s lowest point when Trista left. And since then, he felt so low that even climbing felt like falling. I cannot even express how much I loved Jude. He was a consistent and patient man but he was tested in this book and I loved him more. 

“I want to keep growing with you. Let me love you, Trista, through all of our tomorrows.”

Back to Yesterday was emotionally-charged. There wasn’t a page in this book that didn’t pierced my heart. The writing was so real, focusing more on soul searching than pushing the romance. It played on raw emotions and rubbed on the shallow wounds created by the first book but God, I kept reading. The anticipation kept me up and reigniting Trista and Jude’s spark was an exhilarating experience. Whitney Barbetti certainly knows how to break a reader and building strength on being broken. She doesn’t sugarcoat, she is blunt and real. In this book, she shared a part of herself that made the emotions more in-sync with a reader’s heart. 

I do wish there was more romantic Jude x Trista moments, though.